


what is a guy to do?

by seedofstephano



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3237095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seedofstephano/pseuds/seedofstephano
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joly's life is terrible because he's into his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend, and he just doesn't know what to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what is a guy to do?

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize for the terrible title, and i don't own any of the characters.

Joly _hates_ his life.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but still: Joly’s life is terrible and Enjolras hears all of this as Joly is sprawled on their couch.

“Wait, what’s wrong with your roommate? I thought you liked him,” they ask, completely lost.

Joly sits up then and turns to face Enjolras. “My roommate is wonderful and that’s half the problem! He’s amazing and wonderful and fantastic and, Enjolras, he likes my puns!”

Enjolras snorts there.

“And he’s always tripping over things and hurting himself, but he uses Hello Kitty Band-Aids and we watch sci-fi movies together and—”

“I don’t see what the problem is! You have a crush on him, he sounds amazing and perfect for you, what’s the issue?” Enjolras questions, raising an eye.

Joly flops down again. “He has a _girlfriend_.”

Enjolras nods solemnly. “Ah, I can see how that would be a problem.”

Joly groans. “And the worst thing is I’m into her too! She’s very kind and slightly sarcastic and so, so pretty! It doesn’t help that I keep walking in on them making out whenever I get home from a lecture! It’s terrible!”

Enjolras is quiet for a moment. “Well. Uh, yes, I can see how that could be difficult.”

“My life is _terrible_.”

 

“Thanks for the ride, Combeferre! That rain came on quickly and it’s lucky you have a car,” Joly says with a smile as they pull up to his apartment.

“What’s lucky is we have a class together,” Combeferre says wisely. “You’ll be at the next meeting right? Did you convince your roommate to come?”

Joly lets out a sigh. “I’ll be there, and we’ll see on Bossuet. See you!”

He pushes his way out of the car and runs the short space to his apartment building. He’s lucky enough to have his room on the second floor, but the stairs are still an annoyance.

He makes his way towards 207, and, as he unlocks the door, he wonders if Bossuet would be up for hot chocolate and movies.

“Bossuet? So, since it’s raining I thought--”

Joly stops speaking as he turns around. 

_Goddammit_. 

Of _course_ he would catch them making out again. It wasn’t unattractive, per say, but it was really hard to control his heart speed when he saw it multiple times a week. 

He holds in a squeak as he tries to inch by the couple towards the kitchen. He whispers out sorrys as he passes and then proceeds to slam his head down on the kitchen counter.

“Joly? Everything okay?” he hears Bossuet question and it takes everything in him not to groan.

“I’m fine! Just hit my head is all!” he says with forced cheerfulness, heading towards the cabinets for the cocoa mix. “You guys want anything to drink? I’m making hot chocolate.”

“We used the last of the hot cocoa when we watched _Pirates of the Caribbean_ last Tuesday,” Bossuet says, rubbing his neck as he follows Joly into the kitchen. Musichetta leans on the doorway, and Joly feels his skin heat up when he sees the hickey starting to form on her neck. 

“Oh. Okay. Um, well, I guess I could make tea, but…”

“We could always go get some hot chocolate. ‘Chetta and I were gonna go out anyways. You wanna come?” Bossuet asks, sharing a look with his girlfriend that makes Joly’s insides feel weird.

“Oh! I’d love to, I’ve just got a lot of papers to write... Maybe next time?” Joly tries to quell the idea that Bossuet’s look was a look of disappointment. He really could not go there. _They’re both taken_ , he reminds himself, before searching through the cabinets to look busy.

“Alright… See you later, Jollll.”

“Bye, Joly.”

Joly waits until the door shuts to slam his head down on the counter again. 

 

After a few weeks, Joly takes up avoiding the apartment. He can’t take watching his crushes all the time. They keep inviting him places, and he just can’t take it anymore. So, he starts hanging out at his friends' places all the time.

Enjolras's was nice, although Joly always feels in their way when he comes over. Combeferre's was nice if he really needes to study. Courfeyrac really helps distract him, but it’s a bit loud sometimes. Jehan's place is orderly and put away, but Joly always ends up finding something creepy there... (Last time, it was a skull in the medicine cabinet.) Bahorel and Feuilly's place is small, but they’re always down for movies and cuddles, which really helped sometimes.

By far the best place was Grantaire's. Grantaire’s an awesome friend and didn't mind listening to Joly whine and complain so long as he got to too. He’s also an excellent cook, and combined with Joly's awesome beverage skills, they eat like kings for however long he’s there.

"Look, all I'm saying is, they still want to hang out, so why not join them? I mean, even if they're not into you--which is highly unlikely, I mean you're a catch--at the very least, you can be best friends with them. I say, why don't you stop avoiding them and _go be their friends_ ," Grantaire says as he sipped his coke.

"Okay, I see your point, but, what if I don't do that, and just save my poor heart from breaking by moving in with you?" Joly insists, finishing the last of his soda.

"Because we both know you would ever get anything done if you moved in? Also, I know for a fact you'd miss them too much."

Joly pouts. "I hate when you're right. But what am I supposed to do? I can’t sit there and watch them all the time… It hurts.”

Grantaire frowns, reaching over to rub Joly’s back. “I know it does. But, hey, I’m sure if you explained to them and asked if they could just take that somewhere else, they’d do it. They don’t seem like assholes. And if it ever does get to be too much, you know my door’s always open,” Grantaire says reassuringly.

Joly nods, leaning his head on Grantaire’s shoulder. “You’re right. But, I can do that tomorrow, right? I kinda just wanna stay here and cuddle.”

Grantaire laughs. “Works for me.”

 

Halfway through their Disney marathon, Joly gets a text.

_Bossuet: r u avoiding us? :( i’m sorry if we did something_

He curses under his breath and tries to think of a response.

_Joly: no, no, i’m not avoiding you guys! i’ve just been checking up on my ridiculous friends :)  
Bossuet: well, we both miss u. u should come over 4 movie night._

“Shit shit shit shit. Grantaire, what do I do?” he asks frantically, handing his phone to Grantaire to read.

“Well, you do kind of owe them an explanation. Don’t give me that look! We both know you do. So I say, after we finish _Lady and the Tramp _, you go over and talk things out, okay? And if it really gets bad, text me and I’ll call you and demand you come over because I lost my pants or something. But you’ll be fine.”__

“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?” Joly says fondly, hugging his best friend. Grantaire laughs.

“Yeah, I love you too, you nerd.”

 

Joly paces outside his apartment door for a few moments, debating if he even really wanted to go inside. “I owe them an explanation, yes, but this could end oh so badly… What if I pack up and move to my grandma’s in Thailand? Okay, that’s only an option if this ends badly,” he mutters to himself before finally resigning himself to going inside.

“Here goes nothing,” he says as he unlocks the door. “Hello? You guys here?" He walks in towards the small living room before he notices that the small table they own is covered with all of his favorite snacks. He gapes for a moment, before looking up to see Bossuet and Musichetta standing nervously.

"So... What do you think?" Bossuet questions, motioning to the table. "We kind of went all out... We're sorry for whatever we did. We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable..." he trails off, glancing towards Musichetta.

Joly is completely shell-shocked. After another moment, he shakes his head. "Guys, you really didn't have to do this. I mean, this is too mu--wait is that gluiy churm?" he asks excitedly, moving towards the table.

"It took me ages to find that recipe... It's probably no where near as good as what your Grandma makes, though. Bossuet said sometimes you get homesick, so I thought I'd give it a shot," Musichetta answers, rubbing her neck. "We just hated making you avoid your own home. I'm sorry if I made things awkward between you guys."

Joly sighs then. "No, look, you guys have no reason to apologize. I mean it," he says, seeing the looks on their faces. "I just... It's been awkward to be here because I always catch you guys... doing.. things," he feels his face heat up, "and I've just been trying harder to not walk in on that because it's an invasion on your privacy and it also doesn't help me much because it only emphasizes how much I'm into both of you and it's been increasingly hard to try to not noti--what? What did I do now?" he asks, seeing how Bossuet and Musichetta shared a look.

"Jol, think about what you just said?"

"I said I wanted to avoid that because it was an invasion of your privacy?"

Musichetta shakes her head. "After that."

His eyes widen. "And because it only emphasizes how much... Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry you didn't need to hear that I'm so sorry! I'm just gonna go and--"

"Joly!" Bossuet laughs, moving closer towards him. "You don't need to go anywhere."

"I don't?" 

"We've been trying to ask you out all the time! I mean, we always stayed for movie nights and we asked you out for coffee pretty much daily."

"I thought you were just being nice!" Joly exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well, I guess we should've been clearer. We’re both ridiculously into you and we’re sorry it took us ages to say that outright. But, hopefully you’ll consider being our boyfriend?” Musichetta says, holding out a hand.

Joly grins brightly. “Am I dreaming? Yes, absolutely!!”

After hours of cuddles and kisses and sweets, Joly thinks maybe his life isn’t so terrible after all.

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to jolitaire on tumblr!! anjali proofread this for me and i couldn't have comfortably posted this without them!!  
> i hope you guys enjoyed!!


End file.
